The Boogie Man
by YoungWhovianGirl
Summary: It's the night before Halloween. Clara had always been fond of Halloween and wants to make the Doctor love Halloween as well. But as you know, the Doctor is an alien and not quite fond of anything humans do. So Clara has a long way to go. And when they spot something mysterious in the dark, Halloween gets a lot scarier.


**The Boogie Man**

It was the night before Halloween. Clara had always been fond of Halloween. She loved the parties, costumes, and of course, candy, but now she was going to try to make the Doctor love Halloween as well. But because the Doctor was an alien and not quite fond of anything humans do, Clara knew she had a long way to go.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Doctor, why not?" asked Clara.<p>

"Because," began the Doctor, "I don't want to, and that's a good enough reason why."

"No it's not. I mean it's just a little dinner at… umm Frankie and Benny's," said Clara

"Frankie and Benny's, really? You know I don't like food from your kind unless it's tested in a highly advanced laboratory."

"Please, please Doctor? Just this once, please!" begged Clara.

"Fine," said the Doctor, "We'll go, but, but—but just this once."

"Yes!" said Clara, in a fantastic mood now that he had agreed to go.

* * *

><p>Once they got to the nearest Frankie and Benny's, Clara and the Doctor sat themselves down at a two-chair table. They sat there for at least ten minutes ordering and doing nothing but sitting there waiting for their food to arrive. Then the perfect Halloween dinner was ruined by Danny Pink, who walked in with Jonah Pruitt and Emily Mesa, two other teachers from Coal Hill School, where they both taught.<p>

Danny had recently had a fight with Clara. She had told him that she had stopped traveling with the Doctor, but after he received a recent suspicious phone call from her, he discovered she had been less than truthful.

"Look at him," complained Clara. "With our friends, acting like nothing's wrong."

"Oh, shut up Clara," said the Doctor. "It's your fault anyway."

"It's not my fault. He told me told me to be true to who I was," continued Clara. "So I did, and he didn't like it."

"Humans," whispered the Doctor so that Clara couldn't hear.

Danny suddenly looked over at Clara. Clara unfortunately looked over too. They gave each other looks of dislike, then he turned to his friends and ignored her.

* * *

><p>When Clara and the Doctor had finished and were walking out the door, Clara was still going on about Danny this and Danny that until the Doctor had enough. "I don't care!" yelled the Doctor. Then Clara went silent.<p>

"Well that was a little harsh, don't you think?" said Clara

"No, because I heard you complain about this for an hour and a half," said the Doctor. "It's fair."

"You complain too, Doctor. Why can't I?" asked Clara, actually very curious of what he would answer.

"I'm Scottish. I can complain about things," answered the Doctor. "You're… English."

"I can complain about things if I want, English or not," said Clara, quite fond of her current statement.

"You can't because I say so, and I'm better at it than you ever were," said the Doctor also quite fond of his statement.

As Clara was going to argue back, the Doctor shut her up.

"What is it now Doctor?" complained Clara.

"Just shut up!" repeated the Doctor. "There's something… black."

"What, where?" said Clara with sudden interest.

"There—no, there," said the Doctor pointing straight ahead, and then to the right with a confused look on his face.

"Where?" asked Clara. "Make up your mind."

"I'm trying," said the Doctor. "He's…well, everywhere."

"_Who's_ everywhere, is it more danger?" said Clara.

"Yes, no, wait. Who wants danger?" said the Doctor with curiosity.

"_Me_, it's fun most of the time!" said Clara.

"Tardis. Now. Go," said the Doctor, now bossing Clara around.

"So, another adventure, eh?" asked Clara.

"Guess so, but it won't be a fun one this time," said the Doctor.

"When was time travel _not_ fun?" said Clara. "Where this time?"

"Darkness," answered the Doctor.

"You mean like an alley where it's dark? Why?" asked Clara.

"The Boogie Man," said the Doctor.

"The Boogie Man," repeated Clara, scared now.

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight," started Clara "You're telling me that the Boogie Man is lurking the streets? Makes sense, it's almost Halloween anyway. But why is he here?"<p>

"When you were a child, did you know the Boogie Man?" asked the Doctor.

"Well, yeah. Why?" said Clara getting the chills.

"What do you remember about the Boogie Man that your mum told you as a bedtime story for Halloween?" asked the Doctor.

"Well…" she hesitated for a moment, thinking. What did her mum tell her? "She told me that the Boogie Man would sneak in and give all the children nightmares. But my mum always told me it was fictional and that I shouldn't worry. And if I did get scared, she would tell me she was right there with me," said Clara, getting a little tear in her eye.

There was a pause almost like an awkward silence. But then the Doctor broke the silence. "She was right, that's what the Boogie Man does. Now he is alive and really giving children nightmares. And if you were that child, wouldn't you not want a nightmare."

"No, I wouldn't," said Clara almost excited again. "Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Clara and the Doctor peeked out the Tardis door. "We're here?" asked Clara.<p>

"Sadly, yes," said the Doctor.

"An alley?" asked Clara. "Really?"

"What?" said the Doctor, "the Boogie Man lives in the shadows."

"I know, I know," said Clara. "Umm…Doctor," she said shaking, trying to find the Doctor's hand in the darkness.

"Not now Clara," he said, licking one of the stones on the wall of one of the buildings along the cold dark alley.

"But… he's right there," said Clara still shaking, finally finding the Doctor's hand and tugged it. "Look!"

The Doctor turned and saw that Clara was right. The Boogie Man was only inches away from Clara. "Move, Clara!" yelled the Doctor.

"Don't have to tell me twice," said Clara and moved as quickly as she could.

"Stay back or, or…look at the eyebrows!" said the Doctor.

"Oh, who cares about your…big eyebrows!" shouted Clara.

"I do!" yelled back the Doctor.

"No one else does, so shut it with the eyebrows!" yelled Clara.

"FINE!" yelled the Doctor.

"I see you are not intending to run," said the Boogie Man in a low voice.

"He talks?" asked Clara still scared but interested.

"Of course he talks," said the Doctor.

"Still no running," repeated the Boogie Man.

"I think we should take the Boogie Man's advice and run" suggested Clara.

"I think you're right. RUN!" yelled the Doctor.

In that second, both the Doctor and Clara were running as if their life depended on it (because it did), looking back every second to see if the Boogie Man was there. It took them quite a while to notice that the Boogie Man was nowhere in sight. "Where is he?" panted Clara.

"He's not here?" said the Doctor, also panting.

"No, I don't think so," said Clara trying to catch her breath.

"I knew it!" shouted the Doctor.

"Knew what?" asked Clara.

"I knew that the Boogie Man wouldn't chase down two people doing absolutely nothing," said the Doctor.

"Were doing something: RUNNING!" shouted Clara.

"Shut up, just shut up!" yelled the Doctor pacing back and forth thinking.

"You do realize he probably went through the windows of children dreaming of candy and costumes, right?" said Clara.

"I knew that. Tardis, now," said the Doctor.

* * *

><p>They got to the nearest flat, which wasn't near at all. They immediately got into a lift and went to the top of the flat. Unlike people would, the Boogie Man travels from the top of a building to the bottom, though nobody knows why. The first child the Doctor and Clara saw was already wiggling in his bed, scrunching his nose and mumbling. The Doctor woke up the child, and the child's eyes widened. "Hello," said the Doctor.<p>

"Hi," said Clara in a mother-like tone. "What's your name?"

"Joe," he said shaking. "Joe Smith."

"Nice to meet you Joe. I'm Clara and this is the Doctor."

"Hi," said Joe very quietly.

"I have a question for you. Did you have a nightmare?" asked Clara.

"Yeah," said Joe.

"You don't have to tell us what happened in your nightmare," said Clara.

"Goodnight," said the Doctor as he poked the boy's head, who then fell into a deep sleep.

"You did that with little Danny Pink too," said Clara quite annoyed.

"As I said then, father skills," said the Doctor. And they walked back to the Tardis.

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Clara were walking the empty roads of London in complete silence when Clara pointed out something. "Look over there, Doctor," she said. "It's something like…slithering, very fast."<p>

"I saw it too," whispered the Doctor.

"Is it him?" asked Clara.

"Yes," he answered, scanning his surroundings.

The next second, Clara screamed and was caught in the arms of The Boogie Man. The Doctor turned and stared into the red lights of the Boogie Man's eyes. "Let her go!" yelled the Doctor.

"And why would I do that?" said the Boogie Man in the same low voice.

"Because she's my companion," said the Doctor.

"_So_?" asked the Boogie Man, tightening his grip on Clara.

"So…I'll give you something in return," said the Doctor, hoping to persuade him.

"Like what?" asked the Boogie Man.

"Like…this" he said taking out his sonic screwdriver. "It opens any door to you, except wood."

"I accept your gift," said the Boogie Man.

"NO!" shouted Clara, crying, "It's valuable to you."

"Exactly" said the Doctor.

The Boogie Man grabbed the sonic screwdriver and started examining his gift. Then he let Clara go to the Doctor's arms. "Doctor," whispered Clara, "Why did you give him your precious sonic screwdriver?"

"Because," whispered the Doctor, "he doesn't know something."

"What does he not know?" asked Clara.

"That he has a fake sonic screwdriver and it doesn't do anything," said the Doctor, "the real one is still in my pocket."

"Who carries two sonic screwdrivers in one pocket?" said Clara.

"I don't often, but I was working on changing the design of mine earlier. All he has is a prototype. I put it in my pocket out of habit. It looks and feels like a real sonic screwdriver, but doesn't have any power," said the Doctor.

The Boogie Man pushed the button on the sonic screwdriver and gave an evil laugh. But the laughter stopped and the joy disappeared from his face when he realized it was fake. He started coming after the Doctor, but the Doctor pulled out the _real_ sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the street light. The street light then turned and pointed at the Boogie Man, and the Boogie Man melted.

"Live shadows hate light," the Doctor commented.

"Ew," said Clara looking at the black pile of goop on the floor.

"You're telling me," said the Doctor.

"So there's one more question I want to know," asked Clara. "How's your Halloween going?"

"After this, good," he answered. Clara smiled and they walked back to the Tardis.


End file.
